Ophthalmological apparatus
AssigneeCanon Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorKyoji Sekiguchi
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An ophthalmological apparatus includes an illuminator for illuminating an eye to be examined; an image pickup device for obtaining the image of the illuminated examined eye; a signal converter for converting a signal from the image pickup device into digital data; and a controller for controlling a system, which controller limits a predetermined operation of other than the image pickup device and the signal converter while the signal converter is performing a conversion operation. The ophthalmological apparatus can take a high-quality photographic image by preventing the occurrence of noise or by reducing noise.
Claims67
An ophthalmological apparatus comprising:
- an illuminator configured and positioned to project light toward an eye to be examined, thereby illuminating the eye to be examined;
- an image pickup device configured and positioned to receive light from the illuminated, examined eye, to form an image of the illuminated, examined eye, and to generate a signal representing the image;
- a signal converter, connected to said image pickup device to receive the signal generated by said image pickup device, said signal converter being configured to convert the received signal to digital data by a conversion operation;
- at least one additional element;
- and
- a controller, connected to said illuminator, said image pickup device, said signal converter, and said at least one additional element,
- said controller receiving signals from said image pickup device, said signal converter, and said at least one additional element,
- said controller transmitting control signals to said illuminator, said image pickup device, said signal converter, and said one additional element, respectively controlling said illuminator, said image pickup device, said signal converter, and said at least one additional element, and
- said controller generating a limit signal to limit a predetermined operation of said at least one additional element while said signal converter is performing the conversion operation and to prevent illumination of the illuminator while said signal converter performs the conversion operation.
An ophthalmological apparatus comprising:
- illuminating means for illuminating an eye to be examined;
- imaging means for forming an image of the illuminated eye and for generating a signal representing the image;
- converting means for converting the signal to digital data by a conversion operation;
- at least one additional means for performing an additional function;
- and
- control means for controlling said illuminating means, said imaging means, said converting means, and said at least one additional means and for limiting a predetermined operation of said at least one additional means while said signal converting means is performing said conversion operation and for preventing illumination of said illuminating means while said converting means performs said conversion operation.
A method of examining the eye comprising the steps of:
- illuminating an eye to be examined;
- forming an image of the illuminated eye and for generating a signal representing the image;
- converting the signal to digital data by a conversion operation, the digital data containing information to enable an examiner to examine the eye;
- performing an additional operation in examining the eye;
- and
- limiting a predetermined operation of at least one of said illuminating step and said performing step while said converting step is performing said conversion operation to reduce noise generated during said at least one of said illuminating step and said performing step.
A noise reducing device for an ophthalmological apparatus comprising an illuminator configured and positioned to project light toward an eye to be examined, thereby illuminating the eye to be examined, an image pickup device configured and positioned to receive light from the illuminated, examined eye, to form an image of the illuminated, examined eye, and to generate a signal representing the image, a signal converter, connected to the image pickup device to receive the signal generated by the image pickup device, the signal converter being configured to convert the received signal to digital data by a conversion operation, and at least one additional element, said noise reducing device comprising:
- a controller, connected to the illuminator, the image pickup device, the signal converter, and the at least one additional element,
- said controller receiving signals from the image pickup device, the signal converter, and the at least one additional element,
- said controller transmitting control signals to the illuminator, the image pickup device, the signal converter, and the one additional element, respectively controlling the illuminator, the image pickup device, the signal converter, and the at least one additional element, and
- said controller generating a limit signal to limit a predetermined operation of at least one of the illuminator and the one additional element while the signal converter is performing a conversion operation.
A method of reducing noise produced during an eye examination with an ophthaletological apparatus that illuminates the eye to be examined, forms an image of the illuminated, examined eye, and generates a signal representing the image, converts the signal to digital data by a conversion operation, and performs at least one additional process with at least one additional element, said noise reducing method comprising the step of:
- limiting a predetermined operation of at least one of the illuminating operation and the performing of at least one additional process by the ophthalmological apparatus step while the ophthalmological apparatus converts the signal to digital data, thereby reducing noise generated during at least one of the illuminating operation and the performing of at least one additional process.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.